Facility design review and licensing for clinics, medical centres, dental practices, pharmacies, laboratories and day-surgery units.
What DHA governs
Dubai Health Authority licenses every healthcare facility in the emirate and reviews the physical design of the premises as part of that process. For medical fit-outs, DHA approval runs alongside the Municipality and Civil Defence submissions and imposes requirements that neither of the other two will flag.
Facilities requiring DHA approval
- Outpatient clinics and polyclinics
- Dental practices
- Pharmacies
- Diagnostic laboratories and imaging centres
- Day-surgery and minor-procedure units
- Physiotherapy and rehabilitation centres
- Aesthetic and cosmetic medical facilities
What the review covers
Room dimensions and minimum areas by function, infection control and clean-to-dirty flow, medical gas provision, sterilisation and decontamination arrangements, radiation shielding for imaging rooms, waste segregation and storage, and accessibility. The standards are specific and prescriptive — a layout that works commercially will frequently fail on a room dimension or a circulation requirement.
Typical timeline
Design approval generally takes 15 to 30 working days, with facility licensing following inspection. Imaging facilities requiring radiation shielding attract an additional review and a longer timeline.
Design to the standard first
The most expensive mistake in a medical fit-out is designing the space commercially and applying DHA requirements afterwards. Minimum room areas and flow requirements shape the layout fundamentally — they need to drive the plan, not be retrofitted into it.